Malia

Shannon Malia scored 21 points and Jensa Metcalf had 17 points and eight rebounds to lead Simi Valley High over Camarillo, 85-59, in a Marmonte League girls' basketball game Tuesday night at Camarillo. It was the fifth consecutive league victory for the Pioneers (12-6, 6-1), who led at halftime, 48-28. Simi Valley Coach Dave Murphy played reserves in the second half, when the Pioneers outscored Camarillo (3-14, 0-7), 37-31.

December 2, 2011 | By Jeannine Stein, Los Angeles Times / For the Booster Shots blog

Kids grow up so fast, but some seem to spring up overnight. Witness the trajectory of Malia Obama, the older daughter of President and Mrs. Obama, who at the age of 13 stands almost as tall as her mother. Estimates put her at 5-foot-9 or 5-foot-10, not that unusual for a child with tall parents, but definitely taller than most children her age. No doubt she experienced a growth spurt, a natural occurrence that happens in puberty. This is the time when the body grows the fastest, says Dr. Jamie Wood, a pediatric endocrinologist at Children's Hospital Los Angeles , following a fairly steady growth rate in childhood.

Martin E. Malia, a leading expert on the Soviet Union who predicted the dissolution of communism in that country, has died. He was 80. Malia, who taught at UC Berkeley for more than three decades, died Nov. 19 at a convalescent hospital in Oakland. He had been in failing health battling pneumonia and a series of infections.

How do the Obamas keep their girls' lives normal in the White House? Chores. "We're pretty old school," President Obama told Harry Smith of CBS News in an interview set to air today, Father's Day. "Malia and Sasha, they have to make their beds," the president said. "They have to walk the dog. They have to feed the dog. They have to do their homework. They don't watch TV during the week." Sasha is 8 years old and Malia 10. The president is making a prominent effort to promote responsible fatherhood.

November 18, 2008 | Faye Fiore and Geraldine Baum, Fiore and Baum are Times staff writers.

One of the few times Barack Obama lost his famous cool during the presidential campaign was the day photographers got too close as he walked his youngest daughter, who was dressed as a corpse bride, to a Halloween party near their Chicago home. "You've got a shot. Leave us alone," Obama barked.

After President Obama was elected, his mother-in-law said she loved her family, but she loved her home in Chicago too. "The White House reminds me of a museum, and it's like, how do you sleep in a museum?" Marian Robinson had told People magazine. One whirlwind year later -- after world travel, a state dinner, retreats at Camp David and holiday extravaganzas -- it appears the first lady's mother is sleeping quite well. For Robinson, 72, life in the "President's House" has evolved from a trial run to what looks like an I'm-here-for-the-duration stay.

I'm just back from Washington, after a weeklong trip to cover the inaugural festivities. And by cover , I mean walking for miles in bone-chilling cold and waiting for hours with hundreds of thousands of strangers to watch the proceedings on giant video screens. Inauguration morning may have looked good on TV. The pomp, the crowds, the soaring rhetoric, the patriotic songs. In real life, it involved rising before dawn to navigate barricaded streets with confused crowds given faulty directions by clueless volunteers and out-of-town police.

The youth movement in women's surfing took center stage Saturday afternoon alongside the Huntington Beach pier. Malia Manuel and Coco Ho, two up-and-coming teenagers from Hawaii, were the final two competitors remaining at the Honda U.S. Open of Surfing, creating the youngest women's final in event history. Manuel, who will turn 15 next month, claimed an early edge in the 30-minute final and made it stand up, winning with a best-two-wave score of 14.34 points. Ho, 17, struggled to find a groove in the deteriorating conditions and finished with a score of 7.90.